Crypto influencer loses $60,000 after accidentally showing his private keys during livestream
Topics: Cryptocurrency, Technology
Stewart Perrie
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Fraternidade Crypto
Topics: Cryptocurrency, Technology
It was a sad day for one cryptocurrency investor after he ended up being robbed by an online scammer.
Fraternidade Crypto has more than 34,000 subscribers on YouTube and is a Brazilian influencer who advises his followers about NFTs, crypto and blockchain games.
During a livestream at the end of August, he opened up a notepad file on his computer that contained the private keys connected to his cryptocurrency accounts.
Advert
A private key is a code that is similar to a password. It helps confirm transactions and prove ownership of a blockchain asset.
It would be like opening your notes on your phone during a livestream and it showing your login details to all your accounts.
Fraternidade Crypto ended the stream and tried to quickly transfer his funds when he realized what had happened and then he discovered he couldn't log in.
According to Protos, the Sao Paolo-based influencer posted another livestream showing him crying.
He explained that he had $60,000 worth of crypto taken from him and he pleaded for the thief to return it.
“Yesterday was one of the worst days of my life,” he said in the video.
“I kind of froze at the time, as you see on the video. I stopped the video about 15 to 20 seconds after. I started to get bad, shaking you know?
“I needed to transfer the assets as soon as possible. The assets were in a liquidity pool — they weren’t in the wallet, only about $100 or so.”
“And then I don’t remember. It went so fast and I got really bad. When I went to transfer the assets, an error sign appeared. I couldn’t believe that I was going through this.”
He revealed that he went to the police station to report the crime and then hopped on his Discord channel to find some solace.
It was there he received a message from someone asking to talk to him.
“I almost told him, ‘I can’t talk now, I’m f***ed up here'," Fraternidade Crypto recalled.
Incredibly, the thief returned $50,000 to the influencer.
Fraternidade revealed: “He said, ‘I f***ed up here, I know what I did was bad’ and he just hung up and left.
“I won’t say his name because the guy returned it and there’s no reason for me to screw him, even though what he did was wrong.
"Maybe I went soft… I’m ashamed of going through this, I’m embarrassed. I just want to sleep.”
He's still trying to get the final $10,000 back.
He has decided to leave up his livestream videos as a 'warning' to others about the dangers of a situation like this.